In Čapek’s household, two Škoda cars took turns with alpine destinations, but owned by their partner, actress Olga Scheinpflugová. Karel Čapek did not obtain a “lead certificate”, ie a driver’s license, for a serious illness.
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For longer journeys, the pair used the services of professional drivers. The first car was a liter four-cylinder Popular type 418. It was a closed two-door car worth CZK 19,900. The four-seater Popular with an output of 22 hp (16 kW) unmanned weighed about 750 kg and reached a speed of 90 km / h with a consumption of 7.5 l per 100 km.
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On Friday, July 5, 1935, Karel Čapek and Olga Scheinpflugová went on a holiday to the Alps and Slovakia with this car, during which the writer asked the actress for a hand after fifteen years of acquaintance.
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After returning to Prague on August 26, 1935, Popular brought them to the wedding. A letter from a popular artist posing with a Popular car on an alpine road was used in the brand’s advertising campaign in 1935:
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Letter from Skoda. I am happy to sign that the snowy mountains in the background are an uncashed reality and absolutely no theatrical decorations. These are the passports of the Swiss and the Dolomites, whose height of 2200 m Popular went without whipping. I have nice memories of my little car as a woman and as a driver, so when I tear it apart, I’ll probably buy something from your stables again. Sincerely, Olga Scheinpflugová.
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On Monday, March 8, 1937, Karel Čapek replaced the original Popular car of the Rapid middle class in the household, again with a two-door closed body.
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Thanks to a 1386 cm3 four-cylinder (23 kW) four-cylinder car with a speed of up to 100 km / h with 9.5-liter alcohol fuel consumption, the four-meter car set off for the Alps again in the summer of 1937. This time, about 3,500 long routes led up to Chamonix, at the foot of Mont Blanc. These Čapek’s cars have probably not been preserved to this day.
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The Škoda Rapid, with which Čapek set out on the second alpine route, has not been preserved. The exhibited piece in the Karel Čapek Memorial in Stará Huť near Dobříš has the serial number 48 443, the day-old unpreserved original had 48,434.
Photo: Škoda Auto
